Sunbeam Building gallery opens series of art exhibits around Peoria

Sunday

Mar 16, 2014 at 1:01 AMMar 16, 2014 at 1:16 AM

Leslie Renken Journal Star arts reporter @leslierenken

Chicago-based painter Gaia Nardie-Warner folded her giant paintings in half in order to fit them in the back of a pickup truck for transport to Peoria. Some as large as 8-feet, the paintings are done on canvas — the wood crossbars had to be severed before the canvas could be folded.

Instead of being anxious, the exercise left the 29-year-old artist energized.

“I had done it once before, and it was kind of exhilarating,” said Nardie-Warner while standing in a gallery space at the Sunbeam building with her co-exhibitor and studio mate, artist Veronica Bruce, 32. “There was sort of this tension, like something almost might happen to them.”

Unexpected events, even ones that might damage a finished piece of art, are viewed by both artists as an opportunity rather than a possible tragedy. Both carried the supplies and tools of their trade with them to Peoria, and were willing — eager, actually — to create new artwork to suit the space.

“Pickup Lines,” presented by Backspace Collective, opened March 7 in a newly-painted gallery space in the Sunbeam building. It is the first of a series of shows the collective will host in various locations around town. Water problems in their former space prompted the collective’s board to rethink its organizational structure. They hope to acquire a new, permanent home in the next year or so. “Pickup Lines” will be on display through April 4.

Though Bruce and Nardie-Warner were ready to create something new to suit the space, they settled for some minor alterations to the artwork they had brought. The space is a lot like the studio the pair share in Chicago — a warehouse space with exposed brick. They immediately felt right at home. But that didn’t keep them from carefully considering how their work interacted with the space — in fact, they were in the gallery arranging and rearranging for more than three days before the show opened.

“We were considering the space in the same way that we consider our artwork,” said Bruce. They composed their display with the same eye for composition they use when they make art. Considered was how their artwork related to the cracks in the floor, and the texture, color and features of the wall. An area that got the most attention were two open rooms opposite the display space filled with construction materials and janitorial supplies.

“We wanted to acknowledge that a portion of our gallery space is a storage unit,” said Bruce. Their first thought, quickly rejected, was to obscure it.

“We decided right away not to put a curtain up — it would look too forced,” said Nardie-Warner.

Instead, the pair decided to display art in the area — after all, many of the materials in the storage units are similar to materials they use in their artwork, the pair said. A piece of pegboard hanging on a shelving unit was painted white and adorned with one of Nardie-Warner’s smaller paintings. Beside it, on a rolling cart borrowed from the space, was Bruce’s “Wall Breakdown.”

3-D art

Both Bruce and Nardie-Warner consider themselves painters, but the work Bruce brought for “Pickup Lines” is three dimensional. She works with salvaged objects, re-purposed, re-assembled, and brilliantly painted. “Wall Breakdown” included randomly painted transparent strips of Plexiglass left over from a framing job. A piece of orange tile underlayment, spattered with red paint, covered the cart, and on top of it was a clear plastic bucket filled with a handful of crumbled wall from Bruce and Nardie-Warner’s studio.

“I did a residency in Australia and I was gone for six weeks,” said Bruce. “When I came back, there was a lot of my studio wall on the floor.”

Bruce found the act of sweeping up the debris to be meditative. She began documenting her efforts with pictures and video — another art form she is currently exploring. The debris in the bucket is a whole year’s worth of sweepings solidified in epoxy.

“All my artwork is the transformation of debris,” said Bruce. “Finding purpose for all the parts, kind of like finding meaning in all the parts of your day.”

Collage-like effect

Nardie-Warner also uses found objects, like bits of fabric and beads, in her paintings. She applies paint to the canvas in a variety of methods. Using different materials and techniques, she creates a collage-like effect. Emotion can have a similar effect on the work, said Nardie-Warner.

“Coming back to work on a painting on a different day with a different emotion, can be like a collage,” she said. It’s like applying different states of being, in layers, to the canvas.

While there are differences in the work of the two women, the similarities are striking. They complement each other. The pair have only known each other since August when they been sharing studio space. This is their first shared show. It’s gone so well they are already planning another. It’s clear they collaborate well — when one artist speaks, the other listens in a respectful and contemplative manner. A bit of mutual brainstorming led to the title of the show, “Pickup Lines.”

“We’re both young female painters, and where we’re at in our lives is similar, both in our career and relationships,” said Bruce. It fit, not only because of the similarities between the pair, but because of the thought behind their work, said Bruce.

“Our work is powerful enough to pick you up,” she said. “Our objects hook you.”

Leslie Renken can be reached at 686-3250 or lrenken@pjstar.com. Follow her on Twitter, @LeslieRenken, and subscribe to her on Facebook.com/leslie.renken.